Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:
I have some fat girls growing out, and one has darn near perfect tail black right now...get the cloning gear ready!

 

[rancher hicks]

Well now, I'll try to get pics of the birds. Honestly they have dark tails but you can see the barring and I'm not sure they are hens as the combs are redding and they aren't that big. Fact is they don't look big enough to be roos, but the tails are to long. If they are hens I'd keep them for eggs but not breeding unless things change. Doesn't feathering change after the first molt. All my other hens were grown ups. But Georgia girl never looked like these.

Now Trilyn has a nice roo from my Nick and some hen. Stocky just like Nick. Dels are a dual purpose breed. In fact she has three but one is nice and fat. She's going to keep him.

Now with reference to type. I have plans, by the grace of God, to go to the ALBC conference next week and one of the seminars is about "Type". I just realized I have a small tape recorder and I' may take it, cuz my hearing isn't so good. To bad I can't get my wife to go, she says I never hear anything.

I'll be real busy the next few days, knitting squares for a blanket we're doing at church and they want them by Friday. 12" squares and I lost the @#$% pattern book. So I gotta make up some. Lord help me.
Anyhow I'll get back to you when I can with pics.

Take care
Rancher

 

[HorizonSon]

Knitting is NOT manly! ...... Now crocheting, that's a manly sort!

Oh....ummmm..I love Delaware chickens!

<hides under table>

 

[kathyinmo]

Oh wow, Rancher, you are going to the ALBC conference! Who is speaking there, do you know? I imagine it will be very interesting. Good idea, taking the recorder with you. Ask the speaker if you can sit it near him/her! That would be great to be able to refer back to. Then you could also listen to it, and type up the words and share it all with us!

 

[Inkheart]

I just wanted to let my Delaware friends know - that if you are coming to nationals and have any questions about the city or how to get around let me know - I am 20-25 minutes from the fairgrounds but have lived in downtown before and work there so i know my way around and so forth - just offering!

 

[joletabey]

Inkheart- we need advice- we are getting there late Thursday night, and my DH needs something to do while I slobber over chickens!

 

[Inkheart]

Quote:
LOL - well the fairgrounds are not far from dowtown at all - there are alot of areas of restaurants and bars

near there - jsut depends what will make him happy! Zoos and museums are bit from dowtown -

 

[pinkchick]

Just popping in to say hi to everyone! Happy day to all!


Kathy~

I LOVE MY DELAWARES even more than I did yesterday. My DH finally went out to the brooder with me last night and experienced the friendly little babies. Made me smile big when I looked over to see him put his hand out and one jumped right into it and then started walking up his arm totally unafraid, I smiled even bigger when I saw the smile on my hubby's face.

 

[speckledhen]

I want to make a point about breeders, which, IMO, are what will raise this breed back from obscurity. I hope everyone can find great stock, but breeding anything, learning how to breed for and against certain traits, takes time, money, and learning from mistakes. That is what the Delaware needs, true knowledgeable breeders, since perfect breed examples are almost non-existent.

Remember it takes two parents to make any chick and even if you have a perfect male and the perfect female, they may produce pet quality chicks more often than not. Breeders must learn what traits are the easiest to fix and how to fix them. Just buying great stock from others doesn't make one a breeder, just a buyer of great stock. It's what happens after you get good stock that will make you stand head and shoulders above the rest; it's what will determine if you can keep that greatness going. If you get a great flock, then you have no idea how to fix certain traits that go askew, which male will be best to breed with which female, the quality will disintegrate over time. There will be mistakes, sure, but if those are learning experiences, everyone will grow and the breed will grow, too.

My concern is for the Delaware breed in saying the above. It takes dedication that I certainly do not have and most don't have and lots of money for pens and projects, which I also do not possess. They may have the passion but not the finances, etc. It's a breed well worth saving and I'm happy to see a Delaware club forming and getting on the move! I've seen particular "breeders" touted here on BYC, not of Dels necessarily, but other breeds, that I know for a fact don't really know how to breed, but just buy stock that has been created by other knowledgeable people, then accept all the praise like they really did something other than recognize good stock when they saw it. They even go to great lengths to use subterfuge to get real breeders to sell them what they want if all else fails. If there is no follow-through of breeding education, those birds won't be anything special in a few generations. I want Delawares to rise to greatness again and I'm happy to see so many willing to learn and make the effort to get them off any endangered list!! I know none of us are rich (unless you're holding out on us, LOL), but if many do what they can and pool their efforts, the goal can still be accomplished. And thanks to Walt and Bob for helping us neophytes get that education we can use to go forward. Go, Dels!

 

[Inkheart]

I think speckled hen makes many valid points . One being
"Remember it takes two parents to make any chick and even if you have a perfect male and the perfect female, they may produce pet quality chicks more often than not. Breeders must learn what traits are the easiest to fix and how to fix them. Just buying great stock from others doesn't make one a breeder, just a buyer of great stock."


Coming from a third generation dog breeding and showing family - it takes along time to get "close to perfection" and yes alot of pets. It also takes an eye to piece part animals together to the standard. I had a friend that bred labs - and his "eye" was amazing - he kept a pet quality female out of alitter cause he saw certain things in her that he was needing - he bred her to the right male - and the first litter - all champions and three of them in the top ten of the breed at one point - which in labs is difficult. Now with this said - this man had bred Labs for almost 20 years to get to this point.

I think alot of people on here have the knowledge and desire - i cant wait to see what happens - sorry jsut giving my two cents!